Neo-Nazi convicted for hate crimes targeting Macon rabbi and state representative
The two women received threatening postcards sent from a North Carolina man's home address
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The North Carolina man accused of mailing antisemitic threats to a Macon rabbi and Georgia’s only Jewish State House Representative has been convicted on two charges, according to a news release from the United State’s Attorney’s Office Middle District of Georgia
After a two day trial, 32-year-old Ariel E. Collazo Ramos was found guilty of one count of mailing threatening communications with the addition of a hate crime enhancement on November 4, 2025. Ramos could face up to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and $250,000 fine. This comes after an FBI investigation into Ramos.
“Antisemitic hate has no place in Georgia or anywhere, and this verdict shows these hateful threats are clearly a crime,” said FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown. “No person and no community should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence. The conviction of Ariel E. Collazo Ramos shows the FBI’s commitment to root out these threats and ensure all people are protected in the expression of their faith.”
Ramos targeted Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar of Temple Beth Israel in Macon and Representative Esther Panitch shortly after the passage of Georgia House Bill 30, which aims to more clearly define antisemitism in state law. Rabbi Bahar testified in support of the bill before the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee in January of 2024. Representative Panitch co-sponsored the bill. It was signed into law on January 31.
Ramos sent an antisemitic postcard to the homes of both women from his home address in High Point, North Carolina. Panitch received hers the day House Bill 30 was signed, and Rabbi Bahar received one the following day. Handwritten notes on the postcards read, “Is there a child rape, torture, and murder tunnel under your house? We have the Zyklon B. Use Code ‘GASTHEJEWS’ for 10% off!”. The other side depicted Jewish men as rats. Nazis used the chemical Zyklon B in gas chambers to kill approximately 1.1 million people during the Holocaust. Panitch and Bahar are both have family members who were murdered this way.
“The defendant was not exercising his free speech when he mailed antisemitic postcards to Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar and Georgia House Representative Esther Panitch—this neo-Nazi delivered a true threat to life and liberty,” said U.S. Attorney William R. “Will” Keyes. “Antisemitic threats and all threats made against the federally protected freedoms of our citizens will not be tolerated in the Middle District of Georgia. We will utilize the full power of the federal government to protect our civil rights.”
This was not the first time Temple Beth Israel faced harassment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office notes that a neo-Nazi group rallied outside of the synagogue in 2023 while the congregation was observing the start of the Sabbath. The demonstration prompted an outpouring of support from the community.
Investigators found that Ramos was also selling products with racial, antisemitic, and white nationalist themes through his at-home business, “Patriot Candle Company.”
Sentencing for Ramos is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on January 8, 2026.